The annual Top 50 Gastropubs Awards have been announced, seeing a new winner crowned for 2022. Moving up from ninth last year, Suffolk's The Unruly Pig jumped up into the top spot having previously won the Front of House Team of the Year award.
Last year's winner, The Sportsman in Seasalter, Kent, dropped down to sixth place for 2022 while second and third place went to Parkers Arms, Lancashire, and The Star Inn, York, respectively.
tfp Director and Co-Founder, Charles Banks commented on the awards: "Huge congratulations to all of the pubs recognised in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs Awards, especially No.1 The Unruly Pig near Woodbridge. After what has been a very tough two years for the hospitality industry, it's so exciting to see talent that is championing fine food in a relaxed and comfortable context recognised in pubs across the UK.
"The gastropub is not new, but it couldn't be more relevant than it is today. As part of our Top 10 Trends for 2022/23 we featured 'Fine Eating, Not Fine Dining', the way that the UK gastropub scene is shifting reflects 'Fine Eating, Not Fine Dining' in action. Whilst all uniquely different, representing the length and breadth of the UK there are common threads that unite the top 50 – they're all gastronomy-forward, fuss-free and centred on the food itself, the seasonal ingredients to which often analogue and craft cooking techniques are applied, local supply chain connections made, ethical stories with a purpose told and beauty that comes through relaxed, informal simplicity rather than unnecessary pomp and ceremony. The UK gastropub 2.0 is where it's happening!"
The top 10 was as follows:
1. The Unruly Pig, Woodbridge, Suffolk
2. Parkers Arms, Clitheroe, Lancashire
3. The Star Inn, Harome, York
4. The Angel at Hetton, Hetton, Yorkshire
5. Freemasons at Wiswell, Clitheroe, Lancashire
6. The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
7. The Guinea Grill, Mayfair, London
8. The Fordwich Arms, Canterbury, Kent
9. The Mariners, Rock, Cornwall
10. The Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Other specialist award winners were:
Newcomer of the Year - The Princess Of Shoreditch
One To Watch - Blue Boar Pub
Front of House Team of the Year - Dylans, The Kings Arms
View the full list of 50 gastropubs here.